Recalled, Error and Rare Comics

This site is dedicated to listing rare comics of the modern era covering 1980 to the present time. There are three broad categories on the website: Verified Recalled comics,
Error & Rumoured Recalls and other rare Comics (which is further split into: Ultra & Super Rare and Rare & Low Distribution). Please use the sidebar to the left for quick access to the individual comics and sections
(the navigation bar above also provides quick access to each section).

Rare Comics

Many older comics are rare due to only few copies surviving through the years and also due to lack of collectors back in the earlier periods (many
comics were sadly read and discarded). However, numbers of collectors seemed to have increased through the 1970's and 1980's which has decreased the
number of rare issues during this time (and the Silver age before it). There are obviously still popular issues such as the first full appearance of
Wolverine in The Incredible Hulk #181 but this issue is not rare as there are many copies available. Condition is also a factor: Many comic books were
produced on poor quality paper with acidic inks causing them to quickly degrade over time making any high grade copies rare.

Fast forward to the Modern era and rarity is something that the comic industry has been manufacturing since the early 90's with numerous cover variants of varying degrees of rarity (1:25,1:100,1:300 etc).
The introduction of CGC graded comics in 2000 also started a new collecting craze for sealed professionally graded comics and rarity can be seen within the grade banding: 9.8 is a must-have grade for a modern
comic but the extreme rarity of mint comics (graded 9.9 and 10.0) means these can change hands for ludicrous sums.

This takes us on to one of the more interesting areas where a particular comic book has a problem and has to be recalled. Depending on the timing of
the recall this can severely limit the number of comics in the public domain, for example, the recall notice on Elseworlds 80-page giant only applied
to the U.K. as the recall occurred before they were due to be distributed in the U.S. (they were shipped to the U.K. in advance). If there is any sort
of publicity around the recall and/or the comic involves a popular character, this adds to the demand which will obviously outstrip supply for the rarer issues, leading to the prices skyrocketing.

Anyway enjoy the website, hopefully it has some useful information for anyone wanting to collect or invest in rare comic books of the modern age.

Notes:[1] Quantities of comics are estimates of what was printed and distributed world-wide; as most publishers do not disclose actual print run data these
are just estimates and should be treated as such. Also the number that actually exist today will likely be smaller and, in some cases, much smaller.
[2] Prices are just a guide and may be out-of-date so best to check other guides and realized sales from both auction sites and comic shops as well
for a more accurate measure of current value.
[3] Information is as accurate as possible at the time of publication but there may be some mistakes; if you note any problems with the
content of any pages please get in touch. Many thanks!